The Final Book Club of the Year...

Graphic Novel Version

Novel Version

We had so much fun discussing The Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel with Mr. Weismark! For our next pick, we are discussing The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Students can choose to read the novel version or the graphic novel version (or even both). We will have one big bash on May 6th at 7:30am to discuss so please save the date! It is going to be quite the book bash! Rising fourth graders are invited to attend as well so they can get a taste of the fun for the year ahead.

Book Club Meets Comic Club on April 1st!

We are SO excited to host a very special book club on Monday, April 1st at 7:30am in the Lower School Media Center for 4th and 5th graders! All genders welcome. If you love comics, enjoy the story of Passover, and would like to interact with a very special guest then mark your calendar to arrive at school by 7:30am on Monday and head straight to the lower school media center.

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

Skyping with author Denis Markel was such a treat! His gaming book hit the spot. In addition, we loved having author Aisha Saeed visit our school on February 5th to discuss Amal Unbound. We will be revisiting this book on February 25th during the next book club at 7:30am. Copies are available for check out at either our library or the public library. Happy Reading!

Next Up: Click Here to Start by Denis Markell

We had a blast making swords and discussing Five Kingdom's Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull this morning! Our next pick that we voted to read is Click Here to Start by Denis Markell. It also happens to be a Georgia Book Award nominee for this year. We are excited to read and discuss it on Monday, January 28th at 7:30am in the LS Media Center. 

Penguin Random House Books summarizes the novel as follows:
What if playing video games was prepping you to solve an incredible real-world puzzle and locate a priceless treasure?

Twelve-year-old Ted Gerson has spent most of his summer playing video games. So when his great-uncle dies and bequeaths him the all so-called treasure in his overstuffed junk shop of an apartment, Ted explores it like it’s another level to beat. And to his shock, he finds that eccentric Great-Uncle Ted actually has set the place up like a real-life escape-the-room game!
Using his specially honed skills, Ted sets off to win the greatest game he’s ever played, with help from his friends Caleb and Isabel. Together they discover that Uncle Ted’s “treasure” might be exactly that—real gold and jewels found by a Japanese American unit that served in World War II. With each puzzle Ted and his friends solve, they get closer to unraveling the mystery—but someone dangerous is hot on their heels, and he’s not about to let them get away with the fortune.


Copies can be obtained via Kindle at the LS Media Center, hard copy at the LS media center, or at your public library! Don't wait to read this awesome book about the life of a young gamer. 

Five Kingdoms: Sky Raiders, Book One by Brandon Mull!

We LOVED skyping with author Steve Sheinkin this month! It was AWESOME! Next month, we will be reading Five Kingdom: Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull, which we are super excited about! We will meet on Monday, December 10th to discuss at 7:30am in the LS Media Center. Books can either be checked out at our library or your local public library. Save the date! 

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

What a fantastic kick-off party we had?!  I mean, we Skyped with author, Taryn Souders, and we ate meatloaf for breakfast! (Sounds crazy, but it's actually delicious when the meatloaf is chocolate rice crispy treats!)  It really can't get any better than that!

Everyone seemed to enjoy the silly humor and likable characters portrayed in "Dead Possums are Fair Game."  We also really loved getting the inside scoop on all of those amazing characters from Taryn.  She even shared some math tips and tricks from her time as a middle school math teacher.

Our next book club should be equally as fantastic!  We are reading the book, "Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team."  We will meet to discuss the book, enjoy a book related treat and skype with the author of the book, Steve Sheinkin on Monday, October 29 at 7:30 am in the media center!

“Sheinkin has made a career of finding extraordinary stories in American history, researching them exhaustively and recounting them at a nimble pace for readers aged 10 and up . . . Thorpe's greatness may be aspirational, but Sheinkin's brisk and forthright delivery makes it seem entirely possible.” ―The New York Times Book Review

Book Club Launch Party: 2018-2019 School Year!

We are thrilled to host a book club launch party for 4th and 5th graders on Monday, September 17th at 7:30am in the LS Media Center. We will be discussing Dead Possums Are Fair Game by Taryn Souders. Please get your hands on a copy of the book either from our media center (copies available on a first come, first serve basis) or through your local public library. It's going to be a fabulous year of book clubs!



Check out the author summarizing this book in this short video:

If you would like to check out a Kindle or an iPad with the Kindle app from the LS media center to read the month's book club book, please have a parent complete this form, which can be turned into the Media Center.  

5th Graders Only: If you would like to bring in your own e-Reader for book club, please complete the Acceptable Use Policy Form and return it to Myla Young in the administration office. 

Book Club Extravaganza: How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me From Robots, Traitors and Missy the Cruel

We had SO much fun discussing Ghost by Jason Reynolds and dining on chocolate covered sunflower seeds! Do you know how sunflower seeds relate to the novel? We do! We also designed our own running shoes with augmented reality, which was pretty cool. Our next pick is extra special because it's our final book club of the year and we have some special guests coming.Third graders will be joining us so that we can show them the ropes for the fun year ahead in book club. 

Boys in 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades: Please join us on Friday, May 18th from 3:20-3:50 in the LS Media Center for a book club extravaganza. It's going to be a party!

Ghost

Imagine you are one of nine children all alone on a deserted island.  How will you survive?  Who will take care of you?  

I know what you're thinking, but this book is definitely not "Lord of the Flies."  What it is is a wonderful look at growing up, becoming independent, and moving through adolescence on a journey to maturity.  Seems heavy for a boys book club, but I promise you they devoured this book!  The boys loved discussing the connection Jinny had with the island and her friends, the adventures they had, and her responsibility to her community on the island.  

We recreated the island experience in our media center by ditching our shoes in a pile and eating our very own version of snaps and fish (craisins and swedish fish)!  We also recreated the stones and ink fish experience with garden stones and sharpies.

Amazing discussion, amazing fun, amazing book club--as usual!

And I already can't wait until our next meeting on Monday, April 16 at 7:30 am in the media center.  We're reading "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds.  I expected good reviews from the boys just based on the content and writing, but we already have people asking for the sequel.  This might be our best book club yet!  

A National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature.
Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel of a brand-new series from Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award–winning author Jason Reynolds.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.

Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him?

Orphan Island by Laurel Synder

We had SO much fun discussing The Odd Squad: Bully Bait yesterday at boys book club! We made our own graphic novels and had a meaningful discussion. Our next pick is pretty special. We will be discussing Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder. Laurel Snyder happens to be a local Atlanta author that is widely popular. This is her newest book about nine children living on a mysterious island. That's all I am going to give you! You have to read it to find out what happens.

We will meet to discuss it on Monday, March 5th at 7:30am in the LS Media Center. Can't wait!

The Odd Squad: Bully Bait by Michael Fry

We LOVED hosting a guest Boy Scout extraordinaire yesterday to share strategies for survival in the wilderness as we discussed Pax. Our next book is The Odd Squad: Bully Bait by Michael Fry. Please see the book trailer below. It will have you hooked!

The Odd Squad: Bully Bait

It's super silly and you are sure to love it! It will be perfect for light reading over the winter break. We will meet to discuss it on Monday, January 22nd at 7:30am in the LS Media Center. Unfortunately, the book is not available in Kindle format but you may check out a copy from our media center or from the local public library. Can't wait!

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

We had a fabulous morning skyping with the author of Mrs. Bixby's Last Day!

For our next book, we voted to read Pax by Sara Pennypacker. Pax is the story of an adventurous boy who goes on a quest to find his best companion who happens to be a fox named Pax. Pax is an award winning novel that we can't wait to discuss! We will meet on Monday, December 11th at 7:30am for a breakfast book club. We have several copies in print and on Kindle available for check out in the media center but you may also get a copy from your public library. Happy reading!

Skype with the Author of Our Next Book Club Pick

We LOVED discussing The Wild Robot and making a robot paper toy (and dining on lots of animal creatures!). Our next book brings about a special opportunity! We will be discussing Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson and skyping with him during book club. Amazing! Our next book club is going to be on Monday, October 23rd at 7:30am. Be sure to bring a good question or two to ask him...this is your moment to meet the author! Please email sbrown@davisacademy.org to let us know if you plan to attend. Happy Reading!

Welcome back!

We are excited to kick off the first 4th and 5th grade boys book club with The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. The Wild Robot can be summed up as follows:

When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings?

Roz’s only hope is to learn from the island’s hostile animal inhabitants. When she tries to care for an orphaned gosling, the other animals finally decide to help, and the island starts to feel like home. Until one day, the robot’s mysterious past comes back to haunt her…

It also happens to be a 2017-18 Georgia Book Award and we are super excited to celebrate this book by reading it for our first book club event. Our first book club will take place on Monday, September 11th at 7:30am in the LS Media Center. We will have breakfast treats that tie into the theme of the book, activities, and discussion. 

If you would like to check out a Kindle or an iPad with the Kindle app from the LS media center to read the month's book club book, please have a parent complete this form, which can be turned into the Media Center.  

5th Graders: If you would like to bring in your own e-Reader for book club, please complete the Acceptable Use Policy Form and return it to Myla Young in the administration office. 

Artemis Fowl

Can you believe it?

Our next meeting on May 15 at 7:30am (we may have to change our name to The Breakfast Club :), will be our last meeting of the school year!  With that being said, I'd like to take a minute to invite any third grade boys who might be interested to join us for an extra special final book club meeting.  We'll be discussing the first book in the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer.  It's an action packed adventure/mystery read that's sure to hook you from the first chapter.  I know you're going to love it.

If you missed the last We Challah for Books book club, you missed a great meeting!  We had tasted some of the queens' terrible treats, and we talked about how a story changes when we look at it from a different perspective.  

The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz

Do you remember Adam Gidwitz? He came to visit The Davis Academy several years ago and he was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. In fact, he is so amazing that his latest book has just won the prestigious Newbery Honor medal. Luckily, our book clubbers know a good thing when they see it and voted to have this same book as our next book club book. Woot woot! We will have multiple copies on hand in the media center, both digitally and hard copy. Copies may also be checked out from the local public library. I do believe we will all be a bit smarter after reading this one. Plus, we will get to go back in time to another country. How cool is that? So, get ready to read! We will meet to discuss this great pick on Monday, March 12th. Don't wait...start reading so you can experience the magic of three kids and their battle against the King in medieval times!

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

We had a blast making slime and eating chocolate mud at our last boys book club! Our  next pick is The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. We will meet to discuss on Monday, January 30th during lunch. Books are available for check out at the media center or at your local public library! We can't wait to discuss this magical adventure!

Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar

We had fun book scavenging last week! Who knew that books were really hidden throughout the city of Atlanta?! Our next pick is Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar. We will be meeting on Monday, December 12th so please save the date. Copies may be checked out from our school library or from your local public library. 

Are You A Book Scavenger?

If not, this is your opportunity to become one! We had SO much fun discussing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We made time turners and marauder's maps all while drinking butter beer. A great time was had by all. For our next pick, we voted on The Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. Lucky for us, this is also a Georgia Book Award nominee so this will get us one step closer to voter eligibility in January. This is an AWESOME book. If you don't believe me, preview the author's website here to get a taste of all of the adventures to be experienced through this book. Excited? We hope so!

We will meet on Monday, November 7th at 12:44 in the media center. Please bring your lunch and we will bring delicious treats. 

Welcome back!

Welcome to the 4th and 5th grade boys book club! We are SO excited to welcome back our former book clubbers and to meet the new book club members. This is going to be an unforgettable year of book club. We have author visits in store as well as other exciting opportunities that are unique for book club members. J.K. Rowling must have known when our first book club of the 2016-17 school year would be taking place because she just released her newest book in time for our first event! We will be reading Harry Potter and the Secret Child and discussing it on Monday, September 19th at 12:44PM in the media center. We hope you will join us! Please don't forget your lunch. Treats will be awaiting!

If you would like to check out a Kindle or an iPad with the Kindle app from the LS media center to read the month's book club book, please have a parent complete this form, which can be turned into the Media Center.  

5th Graders: If you would like to bring in your own e-Reader for book club, please complete the Acceptable Use Policy Form and return it to Lauren Ward.